PK Mohapatra Appointed SJTA Chief Administrator

Jagannath Temple in Puri

Bhubaneswar: In a sudden reshuffle, the Odisha government on Monday night appointed senior IAS officer Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra as the chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in place of Pradip Kumar Jena.

A notification to this effect was issued by the general administration when Jena was presiding over a meeting of the Chhatisha Nijog in the presence of Puri collector Arvind Agarwal in Jagannath temple premises in Puri to discuss the directive of the Supreme Court depriving the temple servitors of accepting any form of donation from the devotees.

Mohapatra, who is posted as principal secretary, School and Mass Education, has been given the additional charge of SJTA chief administrator, the notification added. Mohapatra was in charge of SJTA chief administrator from April 27, 2010 to May 13, 2012.

The sudden change in the temple administration has come amid the state-wide resentment over the missing keys of the Ratna Bhandar of the Jagannath Temple.